First Impressions
by Microraptor Glider
Summary: Oliver wonders why a wolf came to help with the investigation and why the wolf is so clueless. Set during this universe's version of 'The Scientist'. mythology!au.


Inpsired by the mythology!au on tumblr created by bisexuallindapark and panromanticbarryallen

* * *

Oliver was already foul when he walked down to the Applied Sciences warehouse. Felicity walked at his side rambling about the details of the break in, while Diggle kept pace a few steps behind him with the emergency umbrella. Rain spattered off of its black exterior. The weather was good so far today. The clouds reduced his burns to begin with, and nobody questioned his need to stay out of the sunlight. However, the weather was the only good thing.

Oliver had groggily stalked into the office that morning to Felicity standing in front of his desk. "There was a break in at Applied Sciences today."

So? Why wasn't Applied Sciences handling this? There were thefts every day in Starling City, and Oliver had spent last night stopping a few of them. He had also spent most of last night tracking down a demon which had set up residence in the city. His inability to stop this one break in was unfortunate, but unfortunate things happen. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

Felicity rolled her eyes and kept going. She had long gotten used to his agitated daytime mood. "We're still doing an inventory check, but the guard was found with odd… marks on his neck." Felicity handed him a picture. They weren't marks; they were finger-sized holes forming a ring around the trachea. "I don't think this was something human. I still can't identify the attacker's supernatural classification though." Felicity scrunched her face at the paper before putting it back in a folder. "Detect- Officer Lance is going to be at the scene in thirty minutes. I think we should meet him there."

Oliver nodded.

It was morning and, god, he hated mornings. Every fiber of his being was telling him to crawl into some safe dark niche and not wake up for another eight hours. But, Oliver also loved his city, and if there was some unidentified supernatural element threatening it, he could at least head down to inspect a crime scene.

Unfortunately, entering the warehouse didn't give any good news. Officer Lance appeared stumped by the crime, and his heart and sweat rates revealed that this wasn't a ruse. The hunter had been tracking malevolent creatures of the night longer than Oliver had been dead, had inherited rich lore and the sight from his parents, and learned from his former wife's traditions. Yet, the hunter had no idea what had broken into the building. Oliver reminded himself that the crime had only occurred last night. The officer had only gotten to the scene a few minutes before him, and some things required time to identify. Oliver still didn't rest well with an unknown force wandering around his city.

Then Oliver's nose twitched. A familiar smell, though one that hadn't graced his nose for a couple years. A wolf.

Looking up, Oliver saw a lanky man walk towards the group through the shelves and piles of equipment. The man was a bit thin for a wolf. A bit young too. But, the way his feet shuffled across the floor, his eyes scanned the room, and his nostrils occasionally flared cast away Oliver's doubts.

Meanwhile, the man was speaking, "Sorry I'm late. My train was late. Or rather my second train was late. My taxi was late to my first one. I have this great app, but the taxi driver didn't listen to me…" He glanced at the group that was now staring blankly at him. He swallowed. "But, I'm here now."

Officer Lance was the first to break the following silence. "Who are you?"

"And, do your… parents know that you're out?" Oliver decided that parents would work better than pack. He needed to know what this wolf was doing in his city.

"Uh…" the wolf looked between Oliver and the Officer Lance. Oliver glared. The wolf reached into his jacket and pulled out a badge. "I'm Barry Allen…. I'm a CSI from the CCPD. We are working on a similar case in Central City, so my superiors decided to send me to help on this case." He looked expectantly at the group.

Oliver narrowed his eyes. Wolves typically weren't from the city. They preferred to hunt deer in the wilderness, while vampires had claimed the city for collecting human blood donors. However, that in and of itself wasn't too suspicious; these rules were guidelines, ones that a particular pack's preference could easily overturn. Yet, the wolf had seemed so clueless as to the true meaning of the question, and every other wolf he'd met had reacted immediately to his presence. He stepped backwards so that Officer Lance couldn't see him, and he bared his fangs. The wolf squinted at him and his nose flared, but instead of backing off or preparing for a fight the wolf merely shrugged and shook the sight off. Oliver's jaw tightened

Lance gave a reluctant and oblivious nod. The wolf started explaining things related to the case. The holes around the neck were caused by a hand, but sheer force had broken the guard's neck and killed him. The wolf held up a picture on a tablet and pointed out the bruising patterns, explaining that the attacker likely only had used one hand.

Oliver looked at picture and tightened his lips. The wolf had a point. It just wasn't one he wanted to hear.

Even as with vampiric strength he could only do so much. He was strong enough that a single punch would knock most humans out, but breaking a neck at with a single hand would take effort. He was quick enough that most people couldn't get a good shot at him, but he couldn't dodge bullets. He could heal from most injuries, but anything too deep would put him off the streets and out of the business rooms for a few days, which he couldn't afford. Taking down someone who could break a neck single-handedly would be difficult. It had been difficult before.

The wolf was in still talking. "I'm guessing you don't know how hard it is to break someone's neck."

Oliver looked up at the wolf. The question seemed genuine, but one doesn't just manage to stumble into a question like that, especially if one has the nose to tell the other person is a vampire. Officer Lance remained in his periphery vision. Even if the wolf could smell him, Officer Lance still didn't know. He shook his head. "No. No idea."

The rest of the day went as one would expect: poorly. An industrial centrifuge had gone missing. Ripped off its base said the wolf. It reminded him again of the demon Slade had become. Then, the wolf explained what a centrifuge is, and he and Felicity exchanged names again. Oliver knew it was going to be a long day. So, when Felicity invited the wolf to help with the internal investigation, he knew it was just his luck. But, it wasn't his luck he had to roll over and deal with. He pulled Diggle to the side and asked him to investigate the boy.

Diggle laughed, "I know vampires can get a bit protective of the people who provide them blood, but you could give Felicity a break." A knowing look danced in Diggle's eyes, one Oliver chose to ignore.

The frown sunk on Oliver's face. "He's a werewolf, Diggle. I want to know the status of his pack and what he is doing in my city."

"Really?" Diggle's eyebrows shot up and he looked back into the room where Felicity was talking with Barry Allen. "What makes you so sure? We haven't exactly gone up against one of those yet."

"I have. Before." A lot of things happened before Oliver had been released from his sire's bond and had returned to his family. He had been bound by his sire's word even when she was not present, made to torture and kill and pushed across the globe at her whims. He had seen a number of creatures on these journeys, almost all of them malicious. "He holds himself like them, but I wouldn't have needed that to identify him. He smells more dog than human."

Diggle sighed and nodded using a moment to take the information in. Oliver had selected him because of his battle experience, but a little over a year ago Diggle had not even known of the supernatural conflicts in his own city. "If you can smell him, can he… smell you?"

"There's no way he hasn't."

* * *

It isn't until the next day, when he had already confronted the thief and had been thrown off a moving truck, that Diggle managed to come back with enough information to confront the wolf. Upon hearing the news, Oliver immediately rushed up to the room in which Felicity and the wolf were taking a break. As he approached the room he noticed through the glass walls the pair chatting and laughing. His pace quickened. He pushed open the door to the wolf making a comment about a science expo he was planning to attend. His frown deepened. "You know something about hiding, don't you, Mr. Allen?"

The wolf jumped. "What?" The wolf's lips pulled back, and his eyes widened. His heart rate remained elevated even after he settled down after the startle.

"First, there is no similar case in Central City. Your boss didn't even know you had left let alone authorized you to help our investigation." The wolf folded his arms and looked downward. His mouth opened to release a sigh. Oliver continued. "Second, Central City's vampire population is not only low, but it was run off a few years ago by-"

"What the fuck are talking about?" The wolf had looked back up after Oliver mentioned vampires, and his face had twisted confusion. Words and sentences continued forming in the wolf's mouth, but they disintegrated before they could leave. It made the wolf look like he was gaping for air. Felicity was looking back and forth between Oliver and the wolf, more composed but just as out of the loop.

Oliver shook his head and brought his fangs into full view. The wolf stepped back. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't smell you? You reek of dog."

Recognition flit across the wolf's face. He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a werewolf." He gave half a laugh. "It's not like you smell that great yourself. It's like walking onto a crime scene and finding a fresh corpse. But, I'm not claiming you're one of the undead."

The room went silent. The wolf looked straight at Oliver's face in anger. Oliver still felt his fangs bared and pushed them further into view.

Finally Felicity broke with the obvious, "You can't see them." The wolf looked at her. "Oliver is a vampire."

The wolf looked back at Oliver, staring at his mouth. He looked back at Felicity. She nodded. He deflated. "Well, I am not a werewolf. I may be sensitive to the supernatural, but I can't completely see it. That should be evidence enough."

Oliver retracted the fangs but didn't drop the glare. Just because the kid wasn't a were and couldn't see didn't mean he wasn't a threat. It also didn't convince his nose that the kid wasn't a wolf or at least related to one.

"I was _affected_ by a wolf when I was a child, and before you say that lycanthropy doesn't spread that way, I know. I already mentioned that I don't see the supernatural. Well, I also don't transform during the full moon and instead have to pop pain killers during that time. I mentioned that I can't see the supernatural, though apparently I respond to it. My nose is more sensitive than I'd like, and one time I heard a dog whistle, but I couldn't sniff out bombs or track somebody through the woods. I don't exactly have were-strength. I've had enough people look me up and down and tell me I shouldn't exist. I don't need another person adding onto that." He started towards the door.

Oliver had relaxed at the explanation, but he kept a firm face and stepped into the door frame before the wolf could reach it. "What are you, and what are you doing here?"

The wolf stopped, rolled his lips, and looked at Felicity. He turned back. "I don't know. All I can say is I was attacked by a huge black wolf with glowing red eyes. It bit my arm and dragged me out of my house and it made its hand human enough to grab a knife and stab my mother. After that my body ached on full moons, and my nose caught more odors than I thought existed. No one believed me, not even those who knew about the supernatural, so I thought if I just solved one case people like you dismissed, then somebody would believe my life." The wolf finally pushed his way around Oliver and left the room.

A quiet moment passed and Felicity walked across the room to Oliver's side. "What was that about?"

"He'd been hiding why he was here."

Felicity cocked her head to the side. "Well, he told you now, and he doesn't even know half of what we hide every day. Did you really have to force him to leave?"

Oliver snorted. "Lycanthropy really doesn't spread that way. In fact, it doesn't spread at all; it only goes from parent to child. He's either extremely abnormal or hiding something else. We'd need to do more research before we can determine that he isn't a threat."

"Oliver!" Felicity yelled without raising her voice. "I can see more than he does, and, outside of hacking, all I do is donate blood. He's not a threat. And, guess what. If somebody heard that a vampire had broken free of his sire before her death, they would probably be suspicious too."

Felicity pushed away from him and walked down the hall.


End file.
